Kevin Pietersen must curb instinct to entertain

England's star batsman should follow Ricky Ponting’s example and play the percentages game to build on his innings

WHILE neither bowling attack covered itself in glory in the respective first innings of the Cardiff Test, the Australian batsmen have clearly laid down

bigger markers than their England counterparts, the simple difference being the determination shown by the visiting side to turn good starts into innings of substance.

It is not that England's top six do not know about scoring big runs but for some mostly unfathomable reason not one of those who reached 50 or 60 was able to press on in the same way as Ricky Ponting, Simon Katich, Marcus North and, to add further pain, Brad Haddin, as four Australian hundreds were racked up in an Ashes innings for the first time.

Ponting's innings was ample evidence that an already long and glorious career will continue for a while yet. His desire has not dimmed and he still has at his disposal a full array of